{"id":2000129472,"date":"2026-10-17T17:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T15:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000129472"},"modified":"2026-10-17T17:32:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T15:32:53","slug":"scientists-uncover-how-deep-sleep-helps-build-muscle-and-regulate-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/scientists-uncover-how-deep-sleep-helps-build-muscle-and-regulate-fat\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists uncover how deep sleep helps build muscle and regulate fat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, identified a network of brain cells that regulates growth hormone release during sleep and discovered that the hormone also sends signals back to the brain to influence wakefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings are based on research by UC Berkeley scientists published in the journal Cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study examined how the brain balances hormone production and sleep using experiments involving mice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth hormone plays an important role in childhood development, helping the body grow, strengthen bones and build muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In adults, it continues to support muscle maintenance, bone health and the way the body processes stored fat and regulates blood sugar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists have long understood that growth hormone release is closely linked to sleep. However, the precise brain mechanisms controlling this relationship have remained unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re actually directly recording neural activity in mice to see what’s going on,\u201d said Xinlu Ding, the study’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research team focused on the hypothalamus, a region deep within the brain that helps regulate hormones, hunger and the sleep-wake cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers examined nerve cells that produce growth hormone-releasing hormone, which stimulates growth hormone production, and somatostatin, which suppresses it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using electrodes to record brain activity and light to stimulate specific nerve cells, the scientists observed how these signals changed as mice moved between sleep stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They found that different patterns of activity during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep helped promote growth hormone release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study also revealed that growth hormone influences the locus coeruleus, a brain region involved in alertness, attention and cognitive function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As growth hormone levels rise during sleep, the hormone stimulates this region, helping regulate the transition towards wakefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This creates a two-way relationship in which sleep encourages hormone release, while the hormone helps regulate when the brain becomes alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Silverman, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher and study co-author, said the findings suggest that sleep and growth hormone form a closely balanced system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discovery could eventually inform research into treatments for sleep disorders and conditions associated with disrupted metabolism, including diabetes, as well as neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the experiments were conducted in mice, meaning further research is needed to establish whether the same mechanisms operate in humans and whether they can safely be targeted by treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a brain circuit linking sleep, growth hormone release and wakefulness, offering new insights into physical recovery and brain health.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists have discovered how the brain coordinates deep sleep with the release of growth hormone, a finding that could help explain why poor sleep affects muscle repair, fat metabolism and brain function.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000129475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[151],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000129472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-editors-choice","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000129475,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/Sleeping-Man-with-Growth-Hormone-Overlay.png","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/png","width":1672,"height":941,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/Sleeping-Man-with-Growth-Hormone-Overlay.png","width":1672,"height":941},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/Sleeping-Man-with-Growth-Hormone-Overlay.png","width":1672,"height":941},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/Sleeping-Man-with-Growth-Hormone-Overlay.png","width":1672,"height":941},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/Sleeping-Man-with-Growth-Hormone-Overlay.png","width":1672,"height":941},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/Sleeping-Man-with-Growth-Hormone-Overlay.png","width":1672,"height":941}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000129472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000129472"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000129472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000129569,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000129472\/revisions\/2000129569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000129475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000129472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000129472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000129472"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000129472"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000129472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}